Lending

Below are various resources on fair lending including redlining, rent-to-own housing transactions, vacant housing issues, foreclosures, and more!

FHCCI Resources: 

• FHCCI Videos of Interest:
  • History of Redlining
  • History of Real Estate Sales Discrimination in Indianapolis
  • Reverse Redlining 101
  • 8 Modern Day Forms of Lending Discrimination
• FHCCI Fact Sheet 12 – Fair Lending Frequently Asked Questions
  • English
  • Spanish

Government Agency Guidance:

• Community Reinvestment Act
• FDIC Fair Lending Technical Assistance Video Tools
• OIG Loan Modification Fraud Bulletin, June 2020
• HUD Predatory Lending Brochure
• HUD Guidance on Home Lending and Appropriate Placement for Transgender Persons in Homeless Shelters 2-20-2015
• HUD Memo – Special Purpose Credit Programs, December 6, 2021
• Guidance on Application of the Fair Housing Act to the Advertising of Housing, Credit, and Other Real Estate-Related Transactions through Digital Platforms, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, April 29, 2024

CFPB Guidance:

• Consumer Finance Protection Bureau: CFPB’s mission is to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans — whether they are applying for a mortgage, choosing among credit cards, or using any number of other consumer financial products. Complaints may be filed with them on alleged violations.
  • CFPB Guidance to Help Lenders Avoid Discrimination Against Consumers Receiving Disability Income 11-18-2014
  • CFPB Guidance – Income from the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Program shouldn’t mean you don’t qualify for a mortgage 5-11-15
  • CFPB Report Highlights Consumer Frustration Around Reverse Mortgages 2-9-15
  • An Updated Review of the New and Revised Data Points in HMDA, August 2020
  • Using special purpose credit programs to serve unmet credit needs, July 19, 2022

Redlining and Lending Discrimination:

• FHCCI History of Redlining Video (YouTube)
• FHCCI History of Redlining Video with captions
• Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America – website with a number of city maps of the Home Owners Loan Corp. Also includes HOLC neighborhood descriptions.
• The Secret Bias Hidden in Mortgage-Approval Algorithms, The Mark Up, August 2021
• How 1930s discrimination shaped inequality in today’s cities, National Community Reinvestment Coalition 2018
• Historic HOLC Redlining in Indianapolis and the Legacy of Environmental Impacts, Journal of Public and Environmental Affairs, April 2020.
• Historical Injustice in the Urban Environment: The Ecological Implications of Residential Segregation in Indianapolis, Indiana Legal Archive
• Lending Discrimination Disparities, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting 2018
• Cases of Interest:
  1. United States v. Union Savings Bank and Guardian Savings Bank (2017)
  2. HOPE Fair Housing Center v. Alpine Bank & Trust Co. (2017)
  3. United States v. KleinBank (D. Minn.) (2017)
  4. Metro St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council/Legal Aid of Western Missouri v. First Federal Bank of Kansas City (2016)
  5. United States and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. BancorpSouth Bank (2016)
  6. National Community Reinvestment Coalition v. First Tennessee Bank (2016)
  7. United States v. Eagle Bank and Trust Company of Missouri (2015)
  8. CFPB & United States v. Hudson City Savings Bank, F.S.B. (2015)
  9. City of Providence, RI v Santander (2014): http://www.providencejournal.com/news/courts/20141105-providence-settles-redlining-lawsuit-with-santander-bank.ece or https://www.scribd.com/document/233353549/City-of-Providence-v-Santander-Bank-Complaint
  10. New York v. Evans Bancorp Inc., (2014)
  11. Cities of Baltimore and Memphis v. Wells Fargo (2012)

Rent to Own/Land Trust/Land Contracts:

Learn more at our Rent to Own/Land Contract page.

Reverse Mortgages:

• OIG Reverse Mortgage Fraud Bulletin, August 2020
• Reports of Interest:
  • CFPB Report, Winter 2019
  • Seniors were sold a risk-free retirement with reverse mortgages. Now they face foreclosure. USA Today, December 18, 2019
  • Reverse Mortgage Danger Signals
• Cases of Interest:
  • Reverse mortgage servicer Celink settles lawsuit for $4.25 million
  • Finance of America Reverse Agrees to Pay $2.47 Million to Resolve Alleged Liability for FHA-Insured Reverse Mortgage Lending Violations

Foreclosure Rescue and Other Mortgage Scams: 

• FTC Guidance on Mortgage Rescue Relief Scams
• Loan Modification Scam Alert: Learn how not to be a victim of mortgage rescue scams

Hardest Hit Funds (Indiana):

• Treasury Quarterly Report

Vacant Housing:

• Reports of Interest
  • Vacancy and Abandonment in the City of Indianapolis, Indiana – Available Tools to Combat Vacancy and Abandonment, Center for Community Progress, May 26, 2016

Maintenance of REOs (Real Estate Owned Properties/Foreclosures):

• Reports of Interest
  • Here Comes The Bank, There Goes Our Neighborhood: How lenders discriminate in the treatment of foreclosed homes, National Fair Housing Alliance, April 11, 2011
  • The Banks Are Back – Our Neighborhoods Are Not: Discrimination in the Maintenance and Marketing of Foreclosed Properties, National Fair Housing Alliance, April 4, 2012
  • Zip Code Inequality: Discrimination by Banks in the Maintenance of Foreclosed Homes in Neighborhoods of Color, National Fair Housing Alliance, September 3, 2014

Other Lending Laws of Interest:

• Community Reinvestment Act
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act: Understanding your rights
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act: Link to the full language of the Act
• Indiana High Cost Home Loan Law: Fact Sheet describing 2004 law.

If you feel that you may have been discriminated against in a lending situation due to your race, color, national origin, religion, gender, disability, or familial status, please contact the FHCCI. If you need assistance not related to discrimination regarding a loan modification, refinancing, or otherwise, please consider contacting a HUD certified housing counseling agency.